Google Slapped With Complaint About Tracking Activity While Shopping Offline

Internet companies can track users whenever they are online, this is pretty much a given at this point. However, tracking users when they are buying stuff in physical stores is going a bit too far in the minds of one privacy watchdog. This is what sparked the most recent complaint being thrown at Google, which can apparently track the purchases that users make when offline.

The watchdog in question is the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and it recently filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, NPR reports. The complaint is with regards to Google’s new offer to corporations, which basically allows them to see how effective their ads are by tracking the purchases made by users at physical locations.

In the statement sent to the publication, Google defended the service, saying that all the data gathered is encrypted. This doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference to EPIC since the point has less to do with how secure the data is and more to do with the actual gathering of the information. To this end, EPIC President Marc Rotenberg wants to take a microscope to Google’s activities.

"Google claims that they don't know who the users are, that they are being de-identified," Rotenberg said. "We want the FTC to take a closer look."

Upon hearing exactly what kind of information Google has access to, it might seem natural that the privacy group would have such a gut reaction. Apparently, the tech firm can track debit and credit card transactions of over 70 percent of US consumers, The Los Angeles Times reports. Google could the match these numbers with certain users via algorithm.

It would seem that the main point of the complaint being directed at Google is that now, users can’t even do things in the physical world that the company can’t track. Of course there would be those who would consider this new system a huge invasion of privacy.